Monday, April 20, 2009

The Weenie

Welcome back to the wonderful and wacky world of Bingham Family traditions. Today we will tackle: The Weenie. This one is a classic, so classic, in fact, that I am not sure I even know its correct origins. Here is what I do know- the Weenie is a little plastic figurine of Robin (from the original Batman and Robin TV series) that measures about 3 inches high. One of us bought him somewhere and gave it someone else in the family as a present, a very strange, goofy present. His name is The Weenie, because, well, look at him, I mean, he is Robin- totally useless, feminine, fairy costume, horrible name- The Weenie just makes sense, right? Anyway, after that first gift exchange, it was decreed that The Weenie would be passed around each birthday in one of the presents, until the next birthday, where the previous 'owner' would get to pass it on yet again. So for a span of about 5 years there, you were less excited about what you actually got in the presents you opened and more concerned with where and how The Weenie would make an appearance. Finally, The Weenie disappeared and we had no idea where he went, until one day, I believe Dave found him (somewhere) and since it was Mom's birthday next- she got him. I even have sweet video footage of it! (This was approximately 2 years or so ago?) Background you need to know: Mom had been opening The Weenie for several minutes before I started this video. It is a long-standing tradition between Brian and my Mom to wrap and re-wrap and re-wrap and re-wrap and re-wrap and wrap again the presents they give to each other. Thus, in this particular instance, The Weenie actually started in a large box and by this point his is just about quintuple wrapped in paper. The reaction to the re-emergence of the Weenie is classic. So here you go....

Also, I could not take a close up picture of The Weenie because, alas, he is in Spain! Yup, we sent him to Brian for his birthday two months ago. We take this very seriously! :)